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The mystery surrounding American PoW Bowe Bergdahl

Release of last American prisoner of war in Afghanistan reopens mystery of how Bowe Bergdahl was captured — and whether he’s a patriot or a deserter.

Soldiers, veterans and others have lit up social media with postings denouncing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for allegedly abandoning his unit.
(U.S. Army / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO)

A sign showing support for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is displayed on June 2 in Hailey, Idaho. Bergdahl was released from captivity on May 31 after being captured by Taliban forces in Afghanistan in 2009. (Scott Olson / GETTY IMAGES)

By David LermanBloomberg

Tues., June 3, 2014

WASHINGTON—The release of the last American prisoner of war in Afghanistan has reopened the mystery of how he was captured — and whether he’s a patriot or a deserter.

Even before U.S. army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl arrives home after almost five years in captivity, scores of soldiers, veterans and others have lit up social media with postings denouncing the former prisoner for allegedly abandoning his unit.

The U.S. army has never described the circumstances of Bergdahl’s disappearance from a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan or his capture by terrorists. An online petition drive that has more than 5,600 digital signatures calls on the Obama administration to punish Bergdahl for going AWOL, or absent without leave.

“He’s at best a deserter and at worst a traitor,” Josh Korder, who said he served with Bergdahl in Afghanistan, told CNN on Monday. “Any of us would have died for him. For him to just leave us like that, it was a very big betrayal.”

President Barack Obama said during a visit to Warsaw on Tuesday that Bergdahl would have been returned home “regardless of the circumstances” of his capture.

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“Whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we still get an American soldier back if he’s held in captivity. Period,” Obama told reporters during a news conference. “That’s what every mom and dad who sees a son or daughter sent over into war theatre should expect, not just from their commander in chief but from the United States of America.”

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement on Tuesday that “the questions about this particular soldier’s conduct are separate from our effort to recover ANY U.S. service member in enemy captivity. This was likely the last, best opportunity to free him.”

Dempsey said “our army’s leaders will not look away from misconduct if it occurred” and that “we’ll learn the facts” when Bergdahl is able to provide them.

The army previously produced a report on the circumstances of Bergdahl’s disappearance, which remains classified, Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday. Warren corrected his comment from Monday that only a preliminary investigation had been done.

Bergdahl, 28, an Idaho man who was captured in 2009 and released on May 31, is in stable condition at the army medical centre in Landstuhl, Germany, Warren said.

“He has nutrition issues,” Warren said, without elaborating. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had said Bergdahl’s health was deteriorating in captivity, adding urgency to efforts to reach a deal for his freedom.

Questions about Bergdahl’s loyalty were raised two years ago, when Rolling Stone magazine obtained email messages it said were sent by the soldier to his parents describing his disillusionment with the U.S. effort in Afghanistan.

“I am sorry for everything,” he wrote, according to the magazine. “The horror that is America is disgusting.”

Since Bergdahl’s release on May 31, Republican lawmakers have stepped up their attacks on the Obama administration, saying it negotiated with terrorists and failed to give Congress the legally required 30-day notification of the deal that freed the American soldier in return for the release of five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

“I fear President Obama’s decision will inevitably lead to more Americans being kidnapped and held hostage throughout the world,” Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, said in a letter Monday asking the Senate Armed Services Committee to hold a hearing on the prisoner swap. The panel scheduled a closed-door briefing for June 10.

The prisoner exchange, brokered by Qatar, requires the five men to remain in that country for a year. Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, said in the interview June 1 on ABC that the agreement places “restrictions on their movement and behaviour” in Qatar, while she declined to discuss details.

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